25 May 2018 - NICE has issued draft guidelines backing restricted use of Pfizer’s Mylotarg for newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukaemia, but has asked for more information on the firm’s Besponsa for a type of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Mylotarg (gemtuzumab ozogamicin) is a targeted therapy consisting of an antibody connected to an anti-tumor agent that is toxic to cells, and thought to work by taking the anti-tumour agent to the AML cells that express the CD33 antigen, blocking the growth of cancerous cells and causing cell death.

Mylotarg was approved last month after clinical trials showed 81% of patients treated with the drug reached remission, while study results show that the drug in combination with chemotherapy offers a statistically significant and meaningful improvement in median event-free survival versus chemotherapy alone (17.3 months and 9.5 months, respectively).

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